“Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, N.Y., has long held the dubious honor of being one of the nation’s most expensive colleges. This year, it tops the list for the second year in a row, with an all-in price of $58,334 a year, or close to $240,000 for a four-year course of studies if inflation in higher ed continues on its current course.”

University of Chicago follows as the second most expensive college. It costs $57,590 a year.

Washington University in St. Louis ranks fourth on the list, with a price tag of $56,930 each year.

For the complete story, visit http://www.forbes.com/sites/danielfisher/2011/10/10/americas-most-expensive-colleges/

]]>http://blogs.news-leader.com/highered/2011/10/10/most-expensive-colleges-in-the-u-s/feed/0McCarthy’s new assignmenthttp://blogs.news-leader.com/highered/2011/08/02/mccarthys-new-assignment/
http://blogs.news-leader.com/highered/2011/08/02/mccarthys-new-assignment/#commentsTue, 02 Aug 2011 20:00:18 +0000Didi Tanghttp://blogs.news-leader.com/highered/?p=75Continue reading →]]>Last month I had a chance to chat with Gilbert Brown, a professor at Missouri State University who coordinates the school’s master’s program in student affairs in higher education.

This is the program for which former Provost Belinda McCarthy will be working and the same program in which former President Jim Cofer has expressed interest. So, I thought it would be a good idea to ask Brown a few questions.

“I always wanted (McCarthy) to teach in this program, … but her schedule didn’t allow her,” said Brown, who told me he tried to recruit McCarthy to teach in his program every year.

Now, she has a special assignment for the program, said Brown, who will serve as McCarthy’s supervisor.

She will help develop online courses for the program, Brown said. As a result, the program can offer a three-year option for working professionals, who are less likely to enroll in the program as full-time students and complete it in two years, Brown said.

“She’s excited about teaching in this program, and I am excited about having her,” Brown said. Asked if McCarthy will ever be in the classroom, Brown said he expects the former provost to be teaching in fall 2012.

Cofer has expressed his interest in teaching in Brown’s program, but Brown — who has met with Cofer and discussed the matter — said: “We have no plan for him to teach in this program at this time.”

Cofer will be working with Stephanie Bryant, new dean at the College of Business Administration, for his assignments. Hired by Cofer, Bryant will be his supervisor when she arrives on campus this August.

Now, the lineup is: Interim Provost Frank Einhellig; Deputy Provost John Catau (who has announced he would retire in December. He will be replaced internally), Associate Provost Joye Norris (a new office), and Associate Provost Rachelle Darabi.

Art Spisak is leaving Springfield to become director of honors at the University of Iowa, and Pawan Kahol, the interim dean of the graduate college, will not be an associate provost.

For the provost’s office, stability is a priority, Enhellig told me this week, and it’s easy to see why.

]]>http://blogs.news-leader.com/highered/2011/07/29/changes-in-msus-provost-office/feed/2Which university has high-paying graduates?http://blogs.news-leader.com/highered/2011/07/26/which-university-has-high-paying-graduates/
http://blogs.news-leader.com/highered/2011/07/26/which-university-has-high-paying-graduates/#commentsTue, 26 Jul 2011 17:30:16 +0000Didi Tanghttp://blogs.news-leader.com/highered/?p=70Continue reading →]]>This morning, I found a news release from Missouri University of Science and Technology in my email inbox. The piece touts that Missouri S&T graduates have some of the highest starting salaries in the nation. In the news release is a link to the report by Payscale Inc., on which the university has based its news release. I skimmed through the Payscale report and gathered some information for several local and state universities.

The first figure is the starting median salary and the second figure is the mid-career media salary.

University of Missouri-Columbia: $41,200; $76,500

Missouri State University: $35,800; $64,500

Missouri University of Science and Technology: $58,600; $94,400

Drury University: $37,500; $57,300

Washington University in St. Louis: $51,200; $87,700

Southeast Missouri State University: $34,500; $60,000

Missouri Southern State University: $38,800; $52,100.

University of Central Missouri: $38,000; $63,100.

]]>http://blogs.news-leader.com/highered/2011/07/26/which-university-has-high-paying-graduates/feed/0Crowder recognized as a great place to workhttp://blogs.news-leader.com/highered/2011/07/25/crowder-recognized-as-a-great-place-to-work/
http://blogs.news-leader.com/highered/2011/07/25/crowder-recognized-as-a-great-place-to-work/#commentsMon, 25 Jul 2011 14:13:23 +0000Didi Tanghttp://blogs.news-leader.com/highered/?p=67Continue reading →]]>Crowder College in Neosho is named as one of the great colleges to work for by the Chronicle of Higher Education. Click here for the story.

In describing the college, the article writes: The college tries to include all types of staff in academic and administrative decisions. For example, the vice president for academic affairs meets regularly with representatives from student affairs and faculty across various disciplines to discuss curriculum issues.

The publication identifies 111 colleges as exceptional places to work.

]]>http://blogs.news-leader.com/highered/2011/07/25/crowder-recognized-as-a-great-place-to-work/feed/0Community college students perform worse online?http://blogs.news-leader.com/highered/2011/07/19/community-college-students-perform-worse-online/
http://blogs.news-leader.com/highered/2011/07/19/community-college-students-perform-worse-online/#commentsTue, 19 Jul 2011 14:43:32 +0000Didi Tanghttp://blogs.news-leader.com/highered/?p=65Continue reading →]]>That apparently is the finding of a new study, reported by the Chronicle of Higher Education. Click here for the full story.

The report starts:

Community-college students enrolled in online courses fail and drop out more often than those whose coursework is classroom-based, according to a new study released by the Community College Research Center at the Teachers College at Columbia University.

The study, which followed the enrollment history of 51,000 community-college students in Washington State between 2004 and 2009, found an eight percentage-point gap in completion rates between traditional and online courses. Although students who enrolled in online courses tended to have stronger academic preparation and come from higher income brackets than the community-college population on the whole, researchers found that students who took online classes early in their college careers were more likely to drop out than those who took only face-to-face courses. Among students who took any courses online, those with the most Web-based credits were the least likely to graduate or transfer to a four-year institution.

The report continues:

The findings come on the heels of a similar study completed in 2010 by Ms. Jaggars and Di Xu, her researcher partner, on online learning in the Virginia community-college system, which also found a significant gap in completion rates between online and face-to-face courses.

Ms. Jaggars said lower completion rates in online courses often boil down to a combination of technical difficulties, a lack of structure, and isolation. Online students often have little training in how to navigate the online interfaces of their courses and struggle to manage their coursework without the grounding of weekly class meetings.

“People assume this generation is super-technologically sophisticated, but that’s not necessarily true, especially in the community-college population, which tends to be low income, disadvantaged, and includes more older students,” Ms. Jaggars said.

This is an interesting study that is worth some exploring. Yesterday, I was attending the Ozarks Technical Community College Board of Trustees meeting when one trustee commented on the growth of online students at the local community college. Online education is growing and for good reasons, but are we doing enough to make sure online students are as successful as those taking face-to-face classes?

]]>http://blogs.news-leader.com/highered/2011/07/19/community-college-students-perform-worse-online/feed/2Salaries for university presidentshttp://blogs.news-leader.com/highered/2011/07/14/salaries-for-university-presidents/
http://blogs.news-leader.com/highered/2011/07/14/salaries-for-university-presidents/#commentsThu, 14 Jul 2011 18:18:17 +0000Didi Tanghttp://blogs.news-leader.com/highered/?p=60Continue reading →]]>One of the commentators on my earlier blog brought up a good point: What is the average pay for a university president? The answer is available on the website of The Chronicle of Higher Education. Click here for the latest data.

The most relevant column to look at is the master’s column, because Missouri State University is considered a master’s institution. (It offers mostly master’s programs at the graduate level). A system president on average makes $266,100 a year, and the president of a single institute makes $250,000.

In the footnote, the Chronicle notes the data come from College and University Professional Association for Human Resources, known as CUPA-HR.

James Cofer, the outgoing president of Missouri State University, has a base salary of $275,000.

The same Chronicle report shows the chief academic officer or the provost makes on average $168,150 a year for master’s institutions such as Missouri State. An internal document by Missouri State University uses data from CUPA-HR, and it shows a provost makes $175,588 a year on average for public master’s institutions (an even more defined category).

Belinda McCarthy, who is leaving the provost position at MSU, makes $213,611 a year.

Clif Smart, the interim president of Missouri State, will be paid $180,000 a year, and Frank Einhellig, the interim provost, will be paid $165,000.

]]>http://blogs.news-leader.com/highered/2011/07/14/salaries-for-university-presidents/feed/0How much did MSU pay to hire James Cofer?http://blogs.news-leader.com/highered/2011/07/13/how-much-did-msu-pay-to-hire-james-cofer/
http://blogs.news-leader.com/highered/2011/07/13/how-much-did-msu-pay-to-hire-james-cofer/#commentsWed, 13 Jul 2011 15:09:08 +0000Didi Tanghttp://blogs.news-leader.com/highered/?p=54Continue reading →]]>James Cofer, who gave up his presidency in less than 11 months, is the shortest-serving president in the history of Missouri State and might have been the most costly president MSU has ever had. His salary is $275,000, the highest ever for an MSU president. And there are more.

When MSU Board of Governors began to search for president in late 2009 and early 2010, it made a decision to hire a consultant for $90,000 to assist with the search process. In total, the search cost the university $144,962.28, below the budget of $175,000.

Missouri State paid Cofer $12,473.01 in moving expenses. Cofer moved to Springfield from Monroe, La., where he was the president of University of Louisiana-Monroe.

In addition to his salary, Cofer had many other perks. Among them are: 1. a $45,000 in housing allowance; 2. a university-provided vehicle; 3. free meals at the university’s dining halls for both him and his wife, Deborah; 4. memberships at the Tower Club and Hickory Hills Country Club; and 5. tickets to university athletic and entertainment events.

As Cofer is returning to the faculty at the end of July, the university board of governors has agreed to pay him the $45,000 housing allowance for one more year. Cofer also will cash out $50,000 in deferred payment.

Cofer retains his title of president until the end of July, but he is no longer involved with the day-to-day operations of the institution. Instead, interim president Clif Smart (appointed June 27) is fully in charge.

]]>http://blogs.news-leader.com/highered/2011/07/13/how-much-did-msu-pay-to-hire-james-cofer/feed/4Lawmakers and college degreeshttp://blogs.news-leader.com/highered/2011/06/13/lawmakers-and-college-degrees/
http://blogs.news-leader.com/highered/2011/06/13/lawmakers-and-college-degrees/#commentsMon, 13 Jun 2011 13:43:41 +0000Didi Tanghttp://blogs.news-leader.com/highered/?p=51Continue reading →]]>I’ve heard the whispers and wondered about this topic myself: How many state lawmakers have a bachelor’s degree? And does it matter whether they do or not?

The Chronicle of Higher Education did the homework for us (click here for the a national map and state-level data) and found 69.4 percent of Missouri lawmakers have college degrees. The percentage is low compared to the national average of 74.7 percent.

California has the highest percentage of 89.9, while New Hampshire has the lowest percentage of 53.4. Arkansas, our neighboring state, is in the bottom five with 60.4 percent of its lawmakers with at least a bachelor’s degree.

The report also details where state lawmakers earned their degrees: 41 hold degrees from University of Missouri-Columbia, and 14 graduated from Missouri State University. But apparently where lawmakers receive their degrees have little influence on decision making, The Chronicle reports.